What is gender

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How are gender and transgender defined?
How can we assist transgender young people?
How are transgender and other gender non-conforming young people treated at school?

How are gender and transgender defined?

Is gender just a matter of being male or female?
Is gender about the way you look and dress?
Or is it also about how you see yourself and how that affects you?
Gender is a combination of all these components.

For a long time, the idea that girls and boys are ‘naturally’ different and have innate feminine/masculine traits has gone largely uncontested. Many people still hold this view. Other people believe that gender is socially constructed. Some people hold a combination of these views.

Gender is defined and evaluated all around us. There are words that are associated with being a boy and others that are associated with being a girl. There are clothes that boys are expected to wear, and clothes girls are expected to wear. There are sports that are considered “boys” sports and sports that are considered “girls” sports.

People have all kinds of different views about gender.

Students who are gender non-conforming are those whose gender expression (or outward appearance) does not follow traditional gender roles, such as:

“Feminine boys”

Students who look the way boys and girls are expected to look but participate in activities that are gender non-conforming, like a boy who does ballet.

“Masculine girls”

Students who are androgynous, having both or neither male and female characteristics.

Despite all our different views, there are many people who actually feel and live in a way that is transgender. Transgender refers to people whose gender identity or behaviour falls outside the usual expectations of their gender. This includes people who feel that their anatomical gender is at odds with their inner sense of being ‘male’ or ‘female’. Some people identify as masculine or feminine, others identify with the gender opposite their biological sex and some identify as neither or both.

The term “transgender young people” can be used as an umbrella term of all students whose gender identity (the gender they identify as) is different from the sex they were assigned at birth and/or whose gender expression is non-stereotypical.

Some transgender students’ transition or change from one gender to another. Transition often means changing the way you dress, selecting a new name, and sometimes getting help from a doctor to change your body.

Respecting transgender young people means taking responsibility for providing supportive services and a safe environment.

Unfortunately there is a huge gap in services, in terms of information and supports for transgender young people, making them extremely vulnerable. Whilst there is still a huge lack of services and supports for SSA young people, this gap is much wider for transgender young people, with very few services and supports available to meet their needs at all. Finding information to support and validate how they feel can be extremely difficult.

Transgender young people as a group can experience similar homophobic/transphobic violence and bullying, exclusion and isolation as same sex attracted young people; however, there are specific support needs for transgender young people.

In recent years in Victoria, we have witnessed an increased presence of young people who self-identify as transgender in many programs for same sex attracted young people. These young people often experience severe harassment, discrimination, ostracism and violence. Transgender youth are increasingly claiming their right to define and express themselves in new ways. These new ways might include hormone treatment, gender reassignment surgery, name change, and cross-living, to name a few.

Many transgender youth have felt uncomfortable with their biological gender from a very early age. These young people often feel strongly that they are a person of the other gender. Other transgender young people may be comfortable with their biological gender and embrace a more fluid definition of “male” or “female” behaviour and appearance than is the norm in their society.

How are transgender and other gender non-conforming young people treated at school?
In addition to the typical challenges faced by all students, those who are transgender and/or gender non-conforming must also be ready to survive slurs, bullying harassment, and assaults by fellow students and even teachers.

Instead of creating safe spaces for gender non-conforming and transgender students, school administrators often enforce policies and practices than can punish gender non-conforming and transgender young people simply for being who they are. Examples of discrimination based on gender identity, appearance, and behaviour include:

Refusing to allow students to wear clothing that fits their gender identity,
Denying students access to education or extra-curricular opportunities due to their actual or perceived gender identity and/or expression,
A school’s failure to protect students from harassment based on their actual or perceived gender identity and/or expression.

Since a common form of discrimination against transgender students is not being allowed to use their preferred toilet, schools should consider providing non-gendered single stalled bathrooms. See sex segregation, below, for more information on this.

Harassment:

Students who are transgender or gender non-conforming often face persistent and severe harassment than can involve name-calling, threats of violence, sexual innuendos or sexual harassment, and even physical assault.

Students who are gender non-conforming and/or transgender are often thought to be gay, bisexual, or lesbian (even if they do not identity as any of these), which increases the harassment, and/or discrimination that they experience. This is because gender discrimination and harassment is often rooted in homophobia, as gender and sexual orientation are seen as interconnected. However, this interconnectedness needs to be challenged to remove the myths that exist around gender and sexual orientation issues being similar.

Names and pronouns:

Recognising and validating the names and pronouns that correspond to transgender students’ gender identity is important for their emotional health and wellbeing.

A student’s name appears in a large variety of places – student’s records, IDs, class roll-call, school publications, tests, and homework assignments to name just a few. Many transgender students adopt new names that are essential to their identity. They also may request that they be referred to by the pronoun that corresponds, or most closely corresponds, with their gender identity. It is important that these requests be respected.

Some gender non-conforming students do not change their name or ask to be referred to by a different pronoun. Even for these students, however, names and pronouns can still be used to discriminate against them. For example, some gender non-conforming students are teased through the use of the wrong pronoun or variations of their names. For example, a boy called Juan who is perceived to be effeminate is called “Juanita” to express other students’ beliefs that he is not acting as the boy “is supposed to act”. This type of name-calling or the misuse of an appropriate name or pronoun can be very damaging to a student’s ability to fully engage in, and feel safe at school.

Sex segregation:

Many school environments and some school activities are sex segregated. Examples include:

Toilets,
Physical education activities,
Class projects,
Student activities.

Such segregation can cause difficulties for transgender students if they are not allowed access to these facilities or activities that match their gender identity.

Not only can such a denial affect students’ emotional wellbeing, but in some cases it can also affect their physical wellbeing. For instance, if transgender students are denied access to the toilet that corresponds with their gender identity, they might avoid using the toilet at school altogether. This can lead to many physical and emotional health problems and can also create an incentive for the student to disengage from school.

Sex segregation can be especially difficult for transgender students who do not identify as either male or female. If such a student is only presented with the choice of a male or female toilet, the student is forced to make a choice that does not match their gender identity. And often times such a “choice” is meaningless because the student is harassed by other students regardless of whether the student opts to use the male or the female toilet. Consider providing unisex or single occupancy* bathrooms.

Harassment in toilets is a common form of discrimination against gender non-conforming students. Because of transphobia and sex stereotyping, these students are regularly subjected to verbal and physical harassment in toilets. Therefore, it is important that schools take steps to make sure that toilets and other sex-segregated spaces be made accessible and safe for students who are transgender and/or gender non-conforming.

Dress codes:

Enforcement of dress codes is often a source of discrimination. For example, it would be discriminatory for a school to have a dress code that is different for boys and girls and refuse to allow a transgender student to wear clothing consistent with their gender identity. Such disciplinary action can negatively affect the student’s standing in the school.

In addition, transgender and gender non-conforming students are sometimes held to a different standard than other students. For example, the clothes of young transgender women are often scrutinized more closely than the clothes of other young women. A skirt that is considered “appropriate” when worn by a biological girl is called “inappropriate” when it is worn by a transgender student. Similarly, gender non-conforming students sometimes face harassment or are scrutinised because their clothes are considered “too feminine” or “too masculine”.

Single occupancy toilets are the ‘stand alone’ toilets that do not share common area with other cubicles. A good example of this is a disabled toilet.

Bibliography

A. Charlene Leach, Deputy Director, National Youth Advocacy Coalition, “Transgender Youth and the Role of Service Providers”, excerpt from Transgender Care by Gianna E. Israel and Donald E.Tarver, www.advocatesforyouth.org, Transitions, Vol. 14, No. 4, June 2002.

Beyond the Binary: A Tool Kit for Gender Identity Activism in Schools, p 6. A publication of: Gay-Straight Alliance Network/Tides Center, Transgender Law Center and National Center for Lesbian Rights, www.gsanetwork.org/beyondthebinary/btbonline.pdf.